Peppermint Kings

As many of my readers probably know, I discovered the peppermint oil business in Ashfield Massachusetts accidentally, as I was researching Dr. Charles Knowlton and his fellow secular radicals. First, I uncovered Samuel Ranney’s letter to the Ashfield Congregationalists, preemptively excommunicating them from his fellowship and support, and noticed a link in the language Ranney used to the ideas Knowlton had elaborated in his book, Elements of Modern Materialism. Then I discovered the Ranney Letters, which I transcribed and published. Following the trail of the Ranney brothers to western New York and southwestern Michigan, I found more peppermint! And some additional characters who I thought were too colorful and interesting not to write about. Ultimately, I began to believe that the stories of three families (Ranney, Hotchkiss, and Todd) who each in their turns dominated the peppermint oil business told a compelling story and highlighted meaningful insights into rural American history. I wrote a PhD dissertation about the “Peppermint Kings” and had a book published in the Yale University Press’s Agrarian Studies series. Peppermint Kings is still available — as a matter of fact, you can currently get a hardcover copy on Amazon for $11.48! But there hasn’t been an audiobook version, which I always regretted. I recorded myself reading the first three chapters of the book in fall 2021 and posted links to videos on my Substack, back when it only had about 46 subscribers. Since that means most of my current readers have probably never seen these, I’ve decided to repost the videos once again. I'll drop the second chapter in a week and then the third (which due to length I divided into two videos) on subsequent Wednesdays. I hope people find it interesting, and if they do, I’ll probably pick it up again, complete my reading of the book, and produce an audiobook. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danallosso.substack.com/subscribe